Forum: How Our Universe Allows for Things that Create Themselves

5 days ago · 11:00 AM

Humanist House

Of all areas where science and the Bible have friction, the topic of origins is the war zone. Exactly why do evolution and abiogenesis kick up such emotion? Maybe it's that by-your-bootstraps thing, auto-creation, the idea of organization "creating itself." Even scientifically minded people struggle with that one. Consider how snowflakes form.

Crystallization is palpable auto-creation, a spontaneous increase in order without intelligent meddling. It seems to violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics, but creationists use a flawed understanding of this law and then promulgate that misunderstanding and exploit it to support creationism. Keith D. Swenson has a degree in Physics and a Masters Degree in Computer Science. He will discuss the above topics, as well as (1) Why some people find it hard to accept evolution, (2) What the natural cognitive barrier is and why it exists, (3) The roles that misunderstanding randomness and entropy play, and (4) Several examples of how complex systems display auto-creation (such as snowflakes!).

After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

The Humanist Community in Silicon Valley was established in 1962 and is a chartered chapter of the American Humanist Association. We have a long tradition of promoting humanist values while providing interesting educational programs and fun, friendly social events for our members.

Our main event is the Sunday Forum which features a different speaker each Sunday discussing a topic of interest. A wide variety of topics are covered from week to week.

A potluck lunch immediately follows the Forum, which is then followed by another event (see below).

NOTE: Approximately 30 to 40 people have been recently attending the Forum each Sunday. Most of them probably don't even know that we're now listing our meetings on Meetup.com, so the number of Meetup RSVPs for our events are normally extremely low. But don't let that fool you! As was mentioned, there are normally approximately 30 to 40 people in attendance for each Forum, no matter how many Meetup RSVPs are listed for a given Meetup event.

We also have a Family Program (for parents and their children) that meets on Sundays in Palo Alto. For more info, please visit:

We also have other events from time to time such as monthly potlucks. And our Fun Group (www.humanists.org/blog/fun-group) organizes a monthly "fun" activity each month.

Our Values - Freedom, fairness and compassion, health and happiness, and using science and reason to acquire and apply knowledge.

Our Vision - Living by, and acting on, these values, for the greater good, while balancing current versus future needs and desires.

Our Mission - To support the social and intellectual needs of our members and to live by and promote our values and vision

The Forum is held every Sunday at Humanist House at 1180 Coleman Ave., San Jose, CA 95110 from 11 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. MAP

Lunch is served immediately after the Forum until 1:30 p.m. Lunch is free for first time visitors and students. Otherwise we ask for a donation of $10. If you can't afford that, please give what you can, and please, join us for good food and even better conversation.

Following lunch (starting about 1:30pm) we have the following events:

1st Sunday of the month: A video2nd Sunday of the month: A card and board game party3rd Sunday of the month: A meeting of the Social Action Committee (all are welcome to take part)4th Sunday of the month: A discussion between HCSV members and friends, and HCSV Board members

We hope to welcome you soon to the Sunday Forum or one of our other events. If you would like to suggest a topic for our Forum or another meetup, please send a message to the organizers (Brian).

Also, feel free to send me a message if you have any questions about the group.

Note: HUMANIST HOUSE, ‘A PLACE FOR ALL OF US’ (our facilities at 1180 Coleman Ave., San Jose, CA), is available for secular or like-minded group events, meetings and classes at no charge until further notice. We only require that you mention "Humanist House, "A Place for All of Us"" in your announcements and advertising.